The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 567: It’s easier to endure something when you know there’s a reward in the end

Chapter 567: It’s easier to endure something when you know there’s a reward in the end

"You should tell me when the baby comes, okay?" Zarfa gripped my hands tightly when it was time for them to return to the Human Realm.

"Okay, okay~" I replied lightheartedly, but she tightened her grip and stared me down.

"Promise me!"

"Promise!"

I replied loudly in reflex as if a drill sergeant was talking to me. Or was it the head nurse? Ugh...

But Zarfa smiled sweetly and nodded in satisfaction as if she hadn’t just given me a mean glare a few seconds ago. "Good, good--just let me know through your husband’s staff over there, ’kay?"

I laughed and hugged her for one last time. "Alright, Aunty~"

She held me tight and whispered. "What about the templars?"

On our way back from the amusement park, the two of them told me briefly about their mission in that accursed kingdom. Jade had fallen asleep from exhausted playtime, but even then, the two didn’t seem too keen on sharing too much. Not out of secrecy, but because it was very uncomfortable.

I understood though--the biggest victims of the kingdom were, after all, girls. Those bastards were targeting virgins, so they deliberately looked for young girls because they were less likely to be ’tainted’ already. Utterly disgusting.

They did not say it outright, but I had a feeling that their ’vacation’ here was their way of forgetting the awful experience while rescuing those girls. The details were heavily omitted, but it seemed they found a mountain of bones beneath the church where they did the blasphemous act of extracting mana.

Aina and Zarfa weren’t exactly in the frontline, because they were more of a supporter rather than warriors, but even what they heard was enough to anger them. What surprised me was how they also sounded angry toward the templars.

I don’t trust them. They wait so long for the ’hero’ to come before doing anything.

Zarfa thought that it wasn’t like they became invincible with Jin’s presence; they just became slightly stronger and thanks to her, well-funded. They said they were bidding their time, but Zarfa felt like they were just cowardly sitting around until the ’goddess’s messenger’ came to the rescue.

They probably wanted someone to shoulder the blame if something went wrong with the operation.

Of course, everything was just her conjecture, but I had no reason to refute it since I wasn’t personally there. There might be a lot of bias there, but why would I defend them anyway? Zarfa just wanted to believe that a lot of girls might have been saved if the templars made a move earlier. Then, the Hero and his companions would have made a move much faster. After all, the only reason they knew about what happened there was because of Zarfa’s ’vision’ from her previous life.

Well, I could feel her sentiment, so...what should I do with those templars? They said I could only learn about Valmeier’s parents if I visited the church myself.

"I’m not sure," I told her. "Truthfully, I don’t want to have any distractions right now."

Shwa would always be my priority, especially when it was less than a month before the birth. I couldn’t say it out loud, but honestly...I had no attachment to Valmeier’s parents. They were not mine, and I didn’t even have an attachment to mine. I also knew Valmeier considered the old priest as his parent more than anyone, so I didn’t really have any motivation.

Still...

"Perhaps later," I muttered hesitatingly. "Once we don’t have anything to worry about."

At least, I should do that much for Valmeier’s sake.

"Okay, I’ll tell Jin just that," Zarfa nodded. She actually looked relieved that I didn’t show any apparent interest. Ever the protective friend, this one. "Just focus on my nephew for now."

I raised my brow. "It’s suddenly a boy, now?"

"Yep. You can have a girl for the next one."

I didn’t even know if we could have a next one, but I still laughed at her confidence. She giggled and took something from her pocket, placing it on my palm.

"Here, Jin told me to return this to you."

I looked at my palm and stared at the small iron plate that functioned as a map to find the church. Well, he wouldn’t need this anymore since they had already found the place.

"Thanks," I nodded and clutched the necklace. While I didn’t have any attachment to Valmeier’s parents, this was still the only link he had to them.

It was a weird concept, but well...the mother was still Grandma’s daughter.

Zarfa took a deep breath and, despite all the laughter we had earlier, looked like she wanted to cry again. Ah...this part of her still did not change even after two lives. She hugged me again, longer this time, and Natha let us have our moment.

I guessed he was over the jealousy period now.

"Be well," she whispered. "Let’s live for a long, long time, okay?"

"Okay," I nodded.

Well, that was always my intention anyway.

* * *

After my human friends left the Castle, we entered a frenzy period of increased security. More soldiers were stationed in and around the forest, and all goods coming to the Castle were under strict scrutiny. Caba even conducted the inspection himself, especially if it was the goods for my needs.

At first, the merchants were panicking, thinking that we received another hint of attack. But this time, the Castle gave a clear explanation right away; that it was just a precautionary measure because the Lord’s child would be born sometime soon.

We weren’t very sure before, since all I had was Lord An’Hyang’s words about how the name of the baby was so fitting. But after the last growth period, I became sure of it. Called it an intuition, since I had no way of explaining it. I just knew.

It would be soon. Soon.

And it was reflected in how greedy my little flower had become, to the point that I needed at least one container per day. Thankfully, my wise husband had stocked up a lot whenever he could, so even if I had to do it daily, we did not run out.

Moreover, Amarein came and added several containers worth of mana to my stock, so I could say my condition was even better than the last time, when I was hovering at the low every day. Also, she would stay in the Castle until the birth, pushing aside all of her priestly duty.

"It’s Mother’s decree," she told us.

This time, Amarein did not come alone. She brought a squadron of druid rangers to help with the security effort. It was immensely helpful since they knew more about the barrier and could communicate with the forest directly.

But that wasn’t all. A group of drow hunters also came from Ahrat, and Issa had sent elven envoys--both for the same reason;

Mother’s decree to keep me and Shwa safe.

Naturally, Natha also recalled most of his best agents back to L’Anaak Eed, while the rest was tasked to report any sign of the first bloom.

Thanks to this, the Castle was rather...packed. It slightly reminded me of our wedding, and for some reason, I felt giddy. The fact that Mother made a move meant she also foresaw that Shwa would be born shortly...right?

Even without the tight scrutiny at the Castle’s gate, people would have questioned the appearance of elves, drows, and druids around the Castle, who actively patrol the estate. Stories were spreading from merchants to merchants, from guilds to stores, and from sellers to buyers.

Soon, it was widely known that we were expecting the birth of a child shortly.

Well, that was what Arta told me. But she also told me that the citizens were excited about the news, which was weird to me.

"...why?"

I mean...I could understand if the culture was to let the child hold the Lord’s title like in a monarchy. But we weren’t like that. Shwa could inherit Natha’s money and become the wealthiest still, but...it wasn’t like he would become a crown prince or anything.

Arta chuckled when I reacted in confusion. "Young Master, it seems like you’re underestimating how much the citizens adore you."

"Huh? But...why?" it only confused me even more. "I don’t think I ever do anything for them."

"You did a lot of things just by existing, Young Master," she laughed. "Ever since you came, His Lordship had gotten even more generous than before. He distributed a lot of aid and relief to celebrate something about you."

"...he did?"

"Even the amusement park was built for you," Arta gave me a wink.

"But wasn’t that all Natha’s doing? It wasn’t like I asked him to do it..."

Arta leaned forward and looked at me keenly. "And whose child is that child?"

"Well, Shwa is our--" I paused when I realized what she wanted to say. "Oh..."

"Right," she pulled back and nodded. "They admired His Lordship and adore you. And now, you will have a child together," she smiled and looked at me with a soft gaze. "I don’t think they are excited about the future Lord or anything, Young Master. They are just happy because it’s a happy occasion for you."

Arta then turned toward a portrait hung on the living room’s wall. Of me and Natha in a matching outfit during our wedding.

"Just like how they are excited about your union, they are excited about the fruit it will bore."

I bit my lips and patted my flaming cheeks. Oh, how blissful it was, to have so many people feeling happy about my happiness. It was weird, a concept I couldn’t imagine existing in my life before.

Once again, I was grateful for enduring everything in my previous life because this reward was so very sweet.

And within these happy moments, a report about the first bloom sighting started to come.